


Trouble Man

by Dr_Snakes_MD



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Badass Aang (Avatar), Badass Mai (Avatar), F/M, Forgiveness, Gen, Intrigue?, Post-Canon, Probably ooc, Regret
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:35:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24486739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dr_Snakes_MD/pseuds/Dr_Snakes_MD
Summary: Out of options, Fire Lord Zuko requests the aid of old friends to halt the coming storm that threatens the world's balance. He'd feel a lot better about it if they weren't the two people he'd wronged the most.
Relationships: Aang/Mai (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Past Aang/Katara - Relationship, Past Mai/Zuko - Relationship
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	Trouble Man

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm dabbling in a new fandom. Helps with my writer's block. Noticed a dearth of Aang/Mai fics in this fandom, so figured why not.
> 
> Fire Nation world building was developed by Loopy in Traitor's Face, and used with permission. If you haven't read that fic, go do so. There's like 700k words so it'll take you a minute too.
> 
> And for transparency's sake, my familiarity of post-canon Avatar is rather sketchy. So assume any liberties taken will either be explained, or are a result of my ignorance.

/~/

It was a good evening, by Iroh’s estimation. He smiled to himself as he poured four steaming cups of simple jasmine and placed them on a serving tray. _A good evening, indeed_. Carrying the tray, he stepped easily through the flaps that hid the back of his shop from the seated area up front, enjoying the quiet now that the day’s patrons had come and gone. The carpet padded his footsteps to silence, and he relished the softness beneath his bare toes.

Coming upon an unmarked door, he balanced the tray on one hand and used the other to twist the wooden handle. The smell of incense greeted his nostrils as Iroh stepped through into the private parlor. Three men, all middle aged but younger than him, sat around a pai sho board in silence. One wore robes indicative of Fire Nation citizenry, with greying hair that reached just past his shoulders. The other two were garbed in the greens and browns of the Earth Nation, one sporting a white, scraggly goatee, the other clean shaven; both were bald.

“Ah, thank you, Iroh,” the one facing the door, Bohai, said with a small smile. His greying hair shone in the candlelight, contrasting sharply with the deep red of his Fire Nation robes. “It’s my turn and you’ve given me an excuse to continue considering my options.”

The other two rolled their eyes. “You’ve been cornered and you know it,” Jinhai said. He twirled the end of his long goatee around his left index finger, a sure sign of impatience.

“I seem to remember our young friend in a similar position just yesterday,” Bohai returned. “He didn’t let your pessimism stop him, did he?”

“And _you_ are not _him_ ,” Mingli pointed out. The clean shaven man shook his head. “Never in all my years have I seen a man work his way out of a hole so effectively.”

“Where did you find him, Iroh?” Bohai asked. “He can’t be older than twenty-five, yet so talented. I’d be ashamed of myself for losing if I hadn’t seen what he did to these poor fools right after.”

“And where is he?” Jinhai grumbled. “I have a score to settle with that boy. I’d assumed he’d be back tonight.”

Iroh smiled, eyes glimmering with amusement. “I found him in a backwards little village at the end of the world some years ago.”

“You think quite highly of him if you let him play with us,” the Fire Nation man said. Iroh said nothing, knowing they were simply saying aloud that which they were too polite to say the previous night.

“Did he not earn his place?” Mingli asked.

“Of course he did. But you must see that Iroh is grooming him for something…”

“All I see is you stalling for time, Bohai!” Jinhai finally snapped. “What the Grand Lotus does with his down time is between him and his protégé. Now play!”

Iroh chuckled as Bohai grumbled and placed his red lotus tile forward, only for it to immediately be swept off the board as Jinhai battered him back into the corner. “I’ll leave you gentlemen to it,” he told the three White Lotus members.

“Do we not have business to discuss, Iroh?” the bald Earth Kingdom man asked. “I’d like to make the most of the time as Bohai claims tensions are rising. Jinhai and I will only be in Ba Sing Se for another two days.”

“The night is still young. I simply wish to enjoy my tea with the full moon before less pleasant matters need to be addressed.” His piece said, the former general, clutching his cup, stepped back through the open doorway and shut it behind him.

He padded his way back through the tea shop and into the back. Another door opened into the balmy night air, and Iroh breathed it in with a smile.

The courtyard was bathed in brilliant moonlight enough to startle his old eyes for a moment. He blinked them open at the sound of flowing water. A young man with close cropped, wavy hair hovered with his back to the door about five feet above a small reflection pool. Thin streams of water circled him gently, twirling about like ribbons through the air.

Iroh turned his gaze skyward, smile fading as he beheld the full moon’s glory. Faded melancholy thrummed through his chest at memories of an innocent girl sacrificed for the greater good. He had often lamented the price the young had had to pay for his family’s ambition, and never more so than on bright nights.

The former general bowed his head solemnly, sending a silent prayer to the woman’s spirit; a promise to uphold his honor and right the wrongs his home had wrought. His colleagues playing pai sho would be instrumental in that, but none were more important than the young man in front of him.

 _I’m sorry you carry such a burden, my friend_ , Iroh thought. _But I will lighten the load as much as I am able._

He stood silently for a few minutes, content to watch the water gently twist and turn through the air, the smoothness of the motion belying the power it contained. Water bending had always been beautiful to him, more so than any other element, and he was forever thankful that he’d not ruined it by opting for the navy all those years ago.

Earth bending’s majesty had been lost to him after his first day at Ba Sing Se’s walls. Iroh had no doubt the North Pole would’ve done the same.

After a few more minutes, the water fell back to the reflection pool with nary a splash. The man lowered himself, feet coming to rest in the shallow water, head turned upward to the moon. “Thank you, Yue,” he said quietly, his baritone carrying easily to Iroh’s old ears in the still night.

The former general sipped his rapidly cooling tea as grey eyes were turned on him. Aang’s angular face stared back at him. “I hope you weren’t waiting long.”

“It is a privilege to witness the Avatar in communion with the Spirit World,” Iroh stated. Aang raised an eyebrow high enough to make it disappear into his headband, and the older man chuckled. “The water makes for an enjoyable show, at least.”

“Glad I can keep you entertained, but shouldn’t you be discussing trade blockades with your friends?”

“The night is still young,” Iroh parroted. “And all they wish to talk about it how soundly you thrashed them yesterday. I wouldn’t want to give away your secrets.”

He was rewarded with a grin and afforded himself a mental pat on the back.

“You couldn’t if you tried, old man.”

“I maintain that you cheat. Even Kuruk couldn’t have been _that_ good.”

Aang shrugged artlessly, grin fading to a smirk. “You begged hard enough for me to teach you one strategy. If that didn’t prove it, I don’t know what will.”

“I wouldn’t say no to a few more…”

“Only in your dreams. I have an aura of mystery to maintain.”

Iroh sighed heavily, knowing the fight was long since lost. That he’d wrested even one of the legendary Kuruk’s strategies from the Avatar was no small feat. It hadn’t failed him yet.

“What brings you out here, Iroh?” Aang asked, teasing absent in his voice.

A hundred paltry excuses flittered through the former general’s mind, but he knew Aang would see right through him. “Perhaps I wanted to check on a friend. You’ve been troubled these last two days.” _And I know the full moon never helps_.

Aang smiled tightly. “Thank you.” The smile disappeared as quickly as it came, and Iroh was thankful the young man didn’t bother trying to convince him otherwise. “I’ll be leaving tomorrow.”

Bushy eyebrows rose. “That urgent? I had planned to host you for another week at least.”

“I’m sorry.” Aang grimaced. “But it’s that urgent. New Ozai is proving…more troublesome than expected.”

A thread of concern beat through Iroh’s chest. “Can Zuko not handle it?”

“He doesn’t think so, which is all the more reason to go. He sent missives to all the Air Temples three days ago requesting my presence. I’m lucky I happened upon one of the courier’s dreams. I’ve been investigating and it doesn’t look good.”

Protectiveness rose in Iroh at the thought of his family in danger. The situation was dire indeed if his nephew had directly requested the Avatar. Aang hadn’t been to Caldera in six years. “What help can I be?” he asked, fighting the urge to dust off his robes and travel with Aang himself. He was past his fighting days.

The Avatar favored him with a small smile. “Keep your mind open. And I’d like to have a few of the White Lotus on standby if things go sideways.”

“Piandao won’t be enough?”

Aang shook his head. “His loyalties are conflicted. He owes a debt that may force him to the sidelines. At worst, he may be on the other side.”

Iroh’s eyes widened. “A Weapon’s allegiance is to the Fire Lord,” he said.

“Apparently some think it’s to the Fire _Nation_ ,” the Avatar corrected. He sighed, running a hand through the hair that concealed his identity. “I expect I’ll clash with more than one before this is over.”

“They’re recruiting the Weapons openly?”

Aang shook his head. “I think it’s taken so long for them to make any sort of move because they’ve been working covertly. You remember we thought they’d do something years ago.”

New Ozai waiting until Zuko’s rein was more secure hadn’t made sense to anyone. It seemed, unfortunately, that time had only made them a more dangerous enemy.

“I’ll contact who I can. Where should I have them wait?”

“Ember Island. We’ll need a safe haven if the Fire Lord and his wife need to flee.”

Iroh let the words settle in the air between them. “You think it will come to that?”

“I won’t _let_ it come to that,” Aang declared, and the former general straightened at the authority in the young man’s voice. “But it always pays to be prepared.”

 _Wise words_. “It will be done, then.” The old man paused and his heart grew heavy. Full moons, he knew, were a special sort of pain for the Avatar. “Will _you_ be ok, Aang?”

To his credit, the young man didn’t respond right away. His gaze turned upward once more, grey eyes gleaming in the moonlight. A tiny smile curled his lips upward after a moment, and Iroh felt a shiver pass through him as the Avatar bridged the Mortal Plane and Spirit World before his very eyes. He thought, for a second, that a dusky hand caressed the man’s cheek.

“I’ll be fine, uncle. Their safety is far more important than me getting my feelings hurt,” the Avatar said at length, eyes still skyward. “Besides, it’s been six years. If I’m not over it by now I’m more pathetic than I thought.”

“Matters of the heart rarely run a smooth course, my boy. There is no shame in feeling,” Iroh said softly.

“No. But there’s plenty of shame in letting feelings stop me from doing what’s right.” Aang returned his eyes to the former general, and they blazed in the moonlight. He grinned, wide and true. “Besides, I have a good feeling about this trip.”

/~/

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning, I'm not sure how dedicated to this I'll be. But inspiration is like that. Hope it's an enjoyable ride.


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